Haemoparasites of camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Maiduguri, Nigeria

Abstract

Astudy was conducted to determine the prevalence and significance of haemoparasite of camels slaughtered in Maiduguri abattoir. Blood samples were colleced aseptcally from camels before slaughter noting age and sex of animals. The samples were processed for packed cell volume (PCV) and thin smear stained with Geimsa stain according to standard procedure. An overall prevalence of 14.2 % (n = 16) of the 113 animals examined was recorded in ths study Theileria camelensiswas mostprevalent (n = 9 or 8.0 %) folowed by Trypanosoma evansi (n = 4 or 3.5 %) and mix infection with both T. evansi and T. camellensis (n = 3 or 2.7 %). There was no significan difference (P>0.05) between male and female camels, however, there was signiicant difference between young and adult camels (P < 0.05) using student t-test at 95 % confidence interval. All the parasites seen in this study significantly (P < 0.01) affeced the packed cell volume of the animals when compared to PCV of non infected animals. The haemogram shows marked macrocytic normochromic cells. Further work on the pathogenesis and effects of haemoparasites ofcamel is required. This is the first report of haemoparasites of camel in this region of Nigeria.

Keywords: Prevalence, Haemoparasite, Theileria camellensis, Trypanosoma evansi, Camel, Abattoir, Tropics